The Last Kiss: Romantic drama. Starring Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Rachel Bilson and Blythe Danner. Directed by Tony Goldwyn. (R. 104 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.) If "The Last Kiss" starts to feel awfully familiar, at least it's not because the movie follows a predictable Hollywood formula. There's nothing formulaic in this story of four buddies on the cusp of 30 torn between settling down and opening themselves up to more adventures -- particularly of a sexual nature.

You may recognize it because it's a remake of a delectable Italian film of the same title that played in the Bay Area five years ago. Remarkably little has been lost in translation. Although thoroughly Americanized -- the setting is Madison, Wis. -- it still feels European in its concentrated focus on troubled relationships, particularly between the angst-ridden Michael (Zach Braff) and his pregnant girlfriend, Jenna (Jacinda Barrett), instead of diverting attention to gimmicks the way Hollywood romances are prone to.

The film doesn't judge Michael and his pals; instead, it tries to get inside the fear motivating them. They're afraid of losing the passion of youth and becoming stuck in a life of utter predictability. They don't always behave admirably. But they do act in ways that are identifiably human, which is more than can be said for a lot of screen characters.

Screenwriter Paul Haggis deserves full credit for knowing how to fiddle with the original version while maintaining its offbeat charm. He's made clever adjustments for cultural differences, like changing a family business from making religious objects to cheese.

Haggis, who wrote the Oscar-winning best pictures "Crash" and "Million Dollar Baby," has the best ear for dialogue in the business. The caustic late-night conversations between disgruntled mates sound as if Haggis had placed a tape recorder in random bedrooms and spliced together the best of the bickering.

When Michael repeatedly tells Jenna how much he loves her, you think he doth profess too much. Sure enough, Michael's wandering eye settles on a college student, Kim ("The OC's" Rachel Bilson), he meets at a friend's wedding. A siren dressed in red, Kim flirts outrageously and Michael flirts back.

Braff has the same quality Dustin Hoffman exploited in "The Graduate" of looking guilty even when he hasn't done anything. His nervous gestures speak volumes about Michael's genuine confusion. He's knocked up his girlfriend but feels nowhere near ready to marry her and take on the responsibility of fatherhood. On the other hand, he recognizes Jenna's steadfast qualities and that Kim is just a passing fancy. Bilson brings a poignant desperation to her desire for Michael.

Haggis gives Kim the film's most philosophical speech, about how contemporary lives are so speeded up that people are having mid-life crises before they hit 30. It's a bit of a cheat. As the part is written, Kim gives little indication of having the smarts to string those thoughts together.

Jenna's mother (Blythe Danner) is going through her mid-life crisis at an age-appropriate time. She's decided that her husband of 30 years is too unemotional to meet her needs. Danner, who's just won back-to-back Emmys, is in her second bloom as an actress. She's eerily calm during a confrontation in the couple's bedroom, staring into a mirror and methodically rubbing one of those creams that are supposed to erase wrinkles onto her face as she hurls accusations at her perplexed husband.

As if emboldened by Haggis' script, Tony Goldwyn, a competent but not especially imaginative director, has found interesting visual ways to express the young men's ambivalence about growing up and accepting the responsibilities that come with it. As Michael is telling Jenna yet again how lucky he is to have her, he drives by a billboard of a luscious woman, forbidden fruit that he will soon find irresistible.

Cars are used to represent freedom. When one of Michael's friends comes up with the idea that they should all drive to South America as sort of a last hurrah, they go shopping for an RV. The urge to get in the van is palpable, as is the urge to kiss unfamiliar lips one more time. "The Last Kiss" ponders what you give up -- and what you gain -- from sticking with what you've got.